芬兰语个人幸福短文本中关于责任的谈论

Responsibility talk in short Finnish texts on personal wellbeing

责任是个有多重含义、多种用法的概念。例如,论及幸福,责任可能会被用来定义因果关系中的动因或担当,也可能被用来定义以某种特定生活方式生活的应担责任(liability)和道德义务。而且,对于同样的问题,我们也可以在根本不使用责任这个概念的情况下进行讨论。从这个意义上说,有关责任的议论超越了责任概念本身,可以将其视为从不同的角度围绕责任概念形成的话语的汇集。本文分析了72篇谈论个人幸福的短文,这些短文均为2010年举办的芬兰语写作比赛的参赛作品。分析的目的在于评价参赛作者谈论责任的情况。分析显示,许多作者注意到,有关健康和幸福的公共讨论具有某种问责和归咎导向。但这些作者认为,负责任的主要意思是:听从自己的心声,作出决断,选择对自己和所爱的人有益的东西,不因外界压力而改弦更张。对责任所下的这种格调积极的定义,为在公共场域中讨论幸福提供了一个可行的出发点。但是,责任的消极内涵也是必须承认的。总之,这方面仍需要更多的理论总结和研究。

Responsibility is a concept with multiple meanings and uses. In relation to wellbeing, it may be used, for example, to define causal agency or taking charge, as well as to define liability and moral obligations to lead a specific lifestyle. In addition, the same issues may also be discussed without using the responsibility concept at all. In this sense, responsibility talk expands beyond the concept and may be seen as a compilation of discourses circling around the concept from different perspectives.In this article, 72 short texts written about personal wellbeing for a Finnish writing competition in2010 were analysed in order to evaluate how the authors discuss responsibility. The analysis shows that an accountability-and blameoriented public debate on health and wellbeing is identified by many of the authors in the data.However, for the authors, being responsible mainly means listening to oneself, making decisions and choosing what is good for oneself and for one's loved ones, irrespective of outside pressure to act otherwise. This positively toned definition of responsibility provides a viable starting point for discussing wellbeing in the public domains. Yet the negative connotations also need to be acknowledged. Overall, more theorising and research are still needed.